Surprise, baby
by AconitumLuparia
Summary: "She wanted to teach him, with patience and time, what it felt like to be part of a family. Starting with a chocolate Easter egg."


Hiiii, here it is...the little fluff ball you didn't know you needed until now ahahah  
This is obnoxious, I know...I hope you'll like it! :P  
Thanks to the amazing weestarmeggie for beta-ing! Love you!  
Happy Easter everyone!  
Vale x

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-oOo-

She had never seen him like this. The moment she had put the wrapped egg on the table in front of him, he had stopped mid-speech and had stared at it as if it was about to burst in his face.

"What -," he didn't even know what to ask.

She giggled, amused by his lack of words, he wasn't the type of man that was rendered speechless often.

"I've gotten you an egg, Tom."

He glared at her, that certainly wasn't the kind of explanation he was looking for and she almost giggled again. Sometimes he was just too easy to rile up.

She smiled at him tenderly and gestured towards the gift, trying to get him to unwrap it.

He did so, reluctantly and she knew he was starting to understand.

The first time it came up, was almost at the end of their first year of dating. He had been clear with her since the start. He had an unmistakable hatred for all bank holidays and no one, in his twenty-three years of life, had ever succeeded in changing his mind. There was no Christmas, no Easter, nothing at all. He regarded them as simple days, nothing more.

It didn't take her long to understand that it was because he had simply grown accustomed to them being like that. He rarely talked about it, but growing up in an orphanage hadn't assured him the best childhood. It was void of love and belonging and he had never felt that warmth one feels between family and loved ones. He had learned, with time, to care about things, about people, but she understood that it still felt a bit foreign to him.

Under that respect, they couldn't have been more different. She had grown up being loved, dearly, and she had loved just as much. Her family had always been very festive and - despite it mostly being only the three of them - they always celebrated with happiness and joy.

She had accepted his reluctance for the better part of five years, but now she wanted to see if he would ever allow her to fix it. She had come to care for him in ways she had never even dared imagine and she couldn't help but want him to be happy, on every occasion.

She wanted to teach him, with patience and time, what it felt like to be part of a family.

Starting with a chocolate Easter egg.

It had taken her almost the whole previous day to finally bake it and wrap it up as she wanted it to be. It was small and a bit odd looking and she pursed her lips at her own baking skills. Honestly, she had tried her best.

Tom lifted it from the table and examined it with a frown, she wondered if he was buying time, that he thought it poisoned or simply irredeemably ugly.

"Are you going to open it anytime soon?" She asked, a bit annoyed with his inspection.

"Did you make this?" He questioned, smirking.

"It's the most beautiful of them all, actually." She huffed and he laughed. He was such an ass sometimes.

Finally deciding it wasn't poisoned after all, he carefully unwrapped it and once he got a good look at the egg he cackled.

"I guess we can both agree, that cooking isn't your best ability." She slapped him in the arm, almost making him drop the egg. "Careful!" He said, still laughing, "wouldn't want to drop this beauty now!"

She glared at him but couldn't stay mad when she saw the way his amusement shone in his eyes. He truly was happy.

"Break it," she instructed. "There's something inside."

He lifted an eyebrow and looked down at the egg quizzically. He put it back on the table and with a light punch the egg broke into pieces. She bit her lip as she studied his reaction.

His eyes widened as he saw the small necklace, it glinted under the light, the silver of the polished chain captured the attention and brought it directly to the silver snake that hung from it. It had small emerald eyes and its mouth was open, ready to strike.

He examined it as carefully as he had with the egg, rotating it between his fingers. She stood there, trying to calm her breathing as he carefully set it down on the table again. She was about to ask what he didn't like about it when suddenly he was on her and her mouth was captured in a bruising kiss.

He held her tightly as his mouth danced with her own. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lightly pulling at his hair. He growled low in his throat and bit down on her lower lip - hard enough for her to whine and then he pulled away. He took the necklace again and put it on without difficulty. It looked amazing on him, but then again, everything did.

"I love you," he said, and she could see it in his eyes.

She smiled brightly at that and kissed him again. He let her take charge of the kiss for a while, but when she started to descend with her hands he stopped her and playfully bit the spot between her shoulder and ear.

"I have something for you too." He said, voice low and throaty.

"Do I get to unwrap you out of your clothes?" He laughed.

"Later," he answered, winking.

She grinned and when she saw him disappear out of the kitchen she couldn't help but wonder what he meant.

Surely he hadn't -?

She couldn't even finish the thought when he was back, holding another egg between his hands. Surprised as she was, she almost didn't know what to do when he placed it in front of her, exactly as she had done minutes prior.

She kept staring at him, unmoving, and he smirked.

"You're lucky I'm much better with food," he drawled.

She almost couldn't believe any of it. He had made her an egg? When? Why? She opened her mouth to spit all those questions at him, but he held up his hands in time to stop her.

"Open the egg, Hermione," he smiled, "there's something inside."

It was only when she registered that he had repeated her own exact words at her that her heart started to beat faster.

She looked at the egg in front of her and, indeed, found it to be quite perfect looking. She bet it tasted wonderful too, her own just a little too bitter for her own taste.

As she unwrapped it she stole glances at Tom, but his face betrayed nothing and looked as calm as ever.

"I wasn't expecting this," she confessed and with trembling hands, she punched the egg and cracked it.

The moment she spotted what was inside she felt like the world had stopped.

There on the remnants of chocolate, was a velvety red box, small enough to hint at what was inside. She stopped breathing and looked up at Tom so fast her neck smarted.

"Tom?" She sounded more panicked than she really was and, as she watched him move closer to her, she could finally take some deep breaths to steady herself.

He was looking at her with anticipation and unmasked want in his expression.

He took the box and placed it in her hands again, this time giving her a little squeeze.

"Open it," and she did. With a little bit of pressure, the box popped open and inside lay a diamond-encrusted ring with a small ruby on top. Hermione looked up at Tom again, still quite unbelieving that this was really happening.

"I love you," he started, "you've been a constant presence in my life since you entered it and I would love for it to last forever. I wish for us to grow up and old together, and keep learning from each other. Learn what it feels to be at home."

She smiled, too overwhelmed to form a coherent sentence. She could only say a loud and bright "yes!" before she was swept into his arms again.

They kissed, just as passionately as before for a long time.

"Please, put it on," she said, with a still trembling voice and he complied with ease and a wide smile on his face.

And with tears threatening to stream down her face, she looked at the ring glinting on her finger and then up to her fiacée's beautiful face and thought that perhaps he didn't have that much to learn at all.


End file.
